The Superior Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former

U.S. Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to " public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill ...

, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

. It is presented to groups or individuals in recognition of a special act or service or sustained extraordinary performance covering a period of one year or longer. The award consists of a certificate signed by an assistant secretary, an official of equivalent rank or the

Chief of Mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permanent ...

. While the

Foreign Affairs Manual The ''Foreign Affairs Manual'' (FAM) is published by the United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country ...

still stipulates award of a medal set, per a 2007 ALDAC (a cable intended for distribution to all diplomatic and consular posts), medals are no longer issued.

Criteria

The following criteria are applicable to granting a Superior Honor Award: * Contributions, which had a substantial impact on the accomplishment of the agency’s missions, goals, or objectives; * Accomplishments, which substantially contributed to the advancement of U.S. Government interests; * Exceptional performance in one or more areas of the employee’s official duties as defined in the Work Requirements Statement (Foreign Service) or Performance Plan (Civil Service); * Innovation and creativity in accomplishing long-term tasks or projects; * Contributions that resulted in increased productivity and efficiency, and economy of operations at agency level; and/or * Exceptional devotion to duty under adverse conditions.

Nominating and Approval Procedures

Cameron Hume and Thomas Melady, State 1993-05- Iss 366 (IA sim state-magazine 1993-05 366) (page 27 crop)

Nominations for State and

employees are submitted on Form JF-66, Nomination for Award, through supervisory channels to the Joint Country Awards Committee for review and recommendation to the Chief of Mission for final action. Nominations initiated in Washington are submitted to the appropriate area awards committee for final action. For USAID, nominations initiated in Washington are reviewed by the USAID bureau/office with final approval by the appropriate assistant administrator or office head.

Military Use

Upon authorization, members of the U.S. military may wear the medal and ribbon in the appropriate

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

as a U.S. non-military personal decoration.

Notable Recipients

* Gary Galloway Galloway was the deputy director of the Office of Information Assurance in the U.S. State Department. *

Barry McCaffrey Barry Richard McCaffrey (born November 17, 1942) is a retired United States Army general and current news commentator, professor and business consultant who served in President Bill Clinton's Cabinet as the Director of the Office of National Dru ...

, principal negotiation team member for the START II Nuclear Arms Control Treaty * Javier G. Corona, Mexican diplomat and promotor of American arts. * ,

Brett H. McGurk Brett H. McGurk (born April 20, 1973) is an American diplomat, attorney, and academic who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, and is currently the Deputy Assistant to Pres ...

, Special Adviser to the United States Ambassador to Iraq * J. William Middendorf, ambassador to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to ...

, General, United States Army and

Director of the CIA The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the D ...

* Bradly J. Roberson, Provincial Affairs Officer, United States Foreign Service PRT Diyala, Iraq 2007-2008 * Philip S. Davidson, U.S. Navy Admiral * Elvin John, Deputy Chief Ciudad Juarez, 2019-2021

References

{{reflist

Criteria

Nominating and Approval Procedures

Military Use

Notable Recipients

References

See also